Ch 28: The Persecuted Church of Jehovah’s Firstborn
Colossians 1:18 Also Yeshua is head of the Body, the Messianic Community/the Church. Yeshua is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that Yeshua might hold first place in everything.
“The Love of God” performed by Mercy Me
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. 11 “Blessed are you, when people insult you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake! 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in Heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
Matthew 5 is a direct quote from Yeshua’s teachings of the Beatitudes to the Jewish crowds known as the Sermon on the Mount.
In relating to the prophets standing firm even in persecution and hardships, one account comes to mind: the prophet Daniel and his three friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) are captured and taken to Babylon. Orders were given to them to worship the gods of king Nebuchadnezzar and bow down to the golden image he had made, but they refused.
In Daniel 5, King Nebuchadnezzar tells the three, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “If you do not serve my gods and worship the image of gold I have set up, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then, what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”
Their reply to the king, “We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the Jehovah we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah trusted in Jehovah God and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own Jehovah God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The three were firmly tied and then cast into the blazing furnace, which was heated seven times hotter than usual. It was so hot that the flames of the fire killed the men that threw them in.
Then the king leaped to his feet in amazement and asked, “Wasn’t it three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a Son of the gods!” The king told the men to come out! Come here! The crowd of royal advisors crowded around them. They saw that the robes were not scorched and there was no smell of fire on them. Then King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of three young trusting Jewish men for their God sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in Jehovah God and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own.
The following is a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar interpreted by Jehovah’s prophet Daniel while in exile in Babylon in 586 B.C.
Daniel 2:31 “You looked, O king, and had a vision of a statue, very large and extremely bright; it stood in front of you and its appearance was terrifying. 32 The head of the statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its trunk and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 As you watched, The Rock was cut out, but not by human hands. The Rock struck the statue on its feet made of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken into pieces which became like the chaff on a threshing-floor in summer; the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But The Rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
As part of His Second Coming, Yeshua, The Rock, will destroy all manmade kingdoms of the earth and reign on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem forever and ever without end.
“The King is Coming” performed by The Gaither Vocal Band
For the Lord has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His dwelling: This is My resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.
1 “Now listen, Ya’akov my servant, Isra’el whom I have chosen: 2 Thus says ADONAI, who made you, formed you in the womb, and will help you: Don’t be afraid, Ya’akov my servant, Yeshurun, {Israel} whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, my blessing on your offspring. 4 They will spring up among the grass like willows on the riverbanks. 5 One will say, ‘I belong to ADONAI.’ Another will be called by the name of Ya’akov. Yet another will write that he belongs to ADONAI. and adopt the surname Isra’el.” 6 Thus says ADONAI, Isra’el’s King and Redeemer, ADONAI-Tzva’ot: “I AM the first, and I AM the last; besides Me there is no God. 7 Who is like me? Let him speak out! Let him show me clearly what has been happening since I set up the eternal people; let him foretell future signs and events. 8 Don’t be frightened, don’t be afraid – Didn’t I tell you this long ago? I foretold it, and you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? There is no other Rock – I know of none.”
1 In days gone by, God spoke in many and varied ways to the Fathers through the prophets. 2 But now, in the acharit-hayamim, God has spoken to us through His Son, Yeshua, to whom God has given ownership of everything and through whom He created the universe. 3 God’s Son, Yeshua, is the radiance of the Sh’khinah, the very expression of God’s essence, upholding all that exists by His powerful word; and after Yeshua had, through Himself, made purification for sins, Yeshua sat down at the right hand of HaG’dulah BaM’romim.
“Mary, Did You Know” performed by Mark Lowery
15 Yeshua is the visible image of the invisible God. Yeshua is supreme over all creation, 16 because in connection with Him were created all things – in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities – they have all been created through Yeshua and for Yeshua. 17 Yeshua existed before all things, and Yeshua holds everything together. 18 Also Yeshua is head of the Body, the Messianic Community, The Church. Yeshua is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that Yeshua might hold first place in everything. 19 For it pleased God to have His full being live in His Son 20 and through His Son to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through Yeshua, through having His Son shed His blood by being executed on a Cross.
22 Also, God has put all things under Yeshua’s feet and made Him head over everything for the Messianic Community {the Church}, 23 which is Yeshua’s body, the full expression of Yeshua, who fills everything in every way, all in all.
Let us define the Messianic Community, or Church as “one collective body of believers in Jehovah God through faith believing by accepting His firstborn and only begotten Son, Yeshua as personal Savior from their sin and choosing His way over their own.”
When and where did the church begin? Yeshua referred to the Church when He was on earth over 2000 years ago. Before the “Church Age,” also known as the 6th dispensation, the meeting place of Jehovah and His Chosen was referred to as the Congregation, Tabernacle, Synagogue, Sanctuary or Holy Temple.
Jehovah’s divine plan for man was carried out through His only begotten Son, Yeshua. The account is found in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. Yeshua is the Builder, Foundation, Rock, Chief Cornerstone, and the All-in-All.
Here is Yeshua’s decree for His Church:
13 When Yeshua came into the territory around Caesarea Philippi, He asked His talmidim, “Who are people saying the Son of Man is?” 14 They said, “Well, some say Yochanan the Immerser, others Eliyahu, still others Yirmeyahu or one of the prophets.” 15 “But you,” He said to them, “who do you say I Am?” 16 Shim`on Kefa answered, “You are the Mashiach, the Son of the living God.” 17 “Shim`on Bar-Yochanan,” Yeshua said to him, “blessed are you, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Kefa and on This Rock {Yeshua}, I will build my Church, and the gates of Sh’ol will not prevail against it.
Isaiah 26:4 Trust in ADONAI forever, for in Yah ADONAI, the ADONAI, is the Rock Eternal.”
Matthew 7:24 “So, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on The Rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the winds blew and beat against that house, but it didn’t collapse, because it had its foundation on The Rock.
Matthew 7 records the teachings of Yeshua to His disciples and to the crowds of Jewish followers. Found in chapters 5-7 is the account of The Sermon on the Mount in Israel.
1 Peter 2
4 As you come to Yeshua, the living stone, rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to Him, 5 you yourselves, as living stones (believers), are being built into a spiritual house to be cohanim set apart for God to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through His Son, Yeshua the Messiah. 6 This is why the Tanakh says, “Look! I am laying in Tziyon a Stone, a chosen and precious Cornerstone; and the one who trusts in Yeshua will certainly not be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this Stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The very Stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone.” 8 also, Yeshua is the Stone that causes men to stumble and the rock that makes them fall. They stumble because they disobey God’s Holy Word, which is also what they were destined for. 9 But you are a chosen people, the King’s cohanim, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Yeshua, who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
21 In Yeshua Christ all the building (spiritual body of born-again believers/saints/disciples) is fitly held together, and is growing into a holy temple (spiritual) in the Lord. 22 Yes, in Yeshua Christ we are being built together as a body of believers into one spiritual (Holy Spirit) dwelling-place for God! All things Spiritual!
14 For this reason, I fall on my knees before the Holy Father, Jehovah God, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that from the treasures of His glory He will empower you with inner strength by His Holy Spirit, 17 so that Yeshua Messiah Christ may live in your hearts through by faith believing. Also I pray that you will be rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp the breadth, length, height and depth of the love of Yeshua Messiah Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses ALL knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, according to His power {Holy Spirit} that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the Messianic Community {Church} and in Yeshua Jesus Messiah Christ throughout ALL generations, for ever and ever! Amen!
Yeshua tells His disciples they will be hated by the world.
18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world — on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world — therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, `A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too; if they kept My word, they will keep yours too. 21 But they will do all this to you on My account, because they don’t know the One who sent Me. 22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin; but now, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done in their presence works which no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now, they have seen them and have hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this has happened in order to fulfill the words in their Torah which read, `They hated me for no reason at all.’ 26 “When the Counselor {Holy Spirit} comes, whom I will send you from the Father — the Spirit of Truth, who keeps going out from the Father — He will testify on My behalf. 27 And you testify too, because you have been with Me from the outset.
John 15 from the Gospel of John Movie, The Visual Bible
After Yeshua was crucified, buried, rose from the grave and returned to His Father, Jehovah God; the Holy Spirit was sent from Jehovah to the disciples, living within them and then all of those who become followers of Yeshua the Christ, to be their Counselor and Comforter for their lives.
The persecution of believers was an ongoing process. The apostles were given power from within by Jehovah’s Holy Spirit to bear witness of their new life in Yeshua through the testimony of eyewitness accounts, along with countless miracles of physical and spiritual healing. Click this link to review Chapter 17: The Power Within.
12 Meanwhile, through the emissaries {apostles} many signs and miracles continued to be done among the people. United in mind and purpose, the believers met in Shlomo’s Colonnade; 13 and no one else dared to join them. Nevertheless, the people continued to regard them highly; 14 and throngs of believers were added to the Lord, both men and women. 15 They went so far as to bring the sick into the streets and lay them on mattresses and stretchers, so that at least Kefa’s shadow might fall on them as he passed by. 16 Crowds also gathered from the towns around Yerushalayim, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits; and every one of them was healed.
Those who openly step out and witness for Yeshua will see the onset of different degrees of persecution. The apostles were bold and openly witnessed in Solomon’s Colonnade. Guess who came calling?!?
17 But the cohen hagadol and his associates, who were members of the party of the Tz’dukim, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the emissaries and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night, an angel of ADONAI opened the doors of the prison, led them out and said, 20 “Go, stand in the Temple court and keep telling the people all about this new life!” 21 After hearing that, they entered the Temple area about dawn and began to teach. Now the cohen hagadol and his associates came and called a meeting of the Sanhedrin (that is, of Isra’el’s whole assembly of elders) and sent to the jail to have them brought. 22 But the officers who went did not find them in the prison. So they returned and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked and the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened it, we found no one inside!” 24 When the captain of the Temple police and the head cohanim heard these things, they were puzzled and wondered what would happen next. 25 Then someone came and reported to them, “Listen! The men you ordered put in prison are standing in the Temple court, teaching the people!” 26 The captain and his officers went and brought them, but not with force; because they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 They conducted them to the Sanhedrin, where the cohen hagadol demanded of them, 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of Yeshua! Look here! you have filled Yerushalayim with your teaching; moreover, you are determined to make us responsible for Yeshua’s death!” 29 Kefa and the other emissaries answered, “We must obey God, not men. 30 The God of our fathersl raised up Yeshua, whereas you men killed Him by having Him hanged on a stake. 31 God has exalted Yeshua at His right hand as Ruler and Savior, in order to enable Isra’el to do t’shuvah and have her sins forgiven. 32 We are witnesses to these things; so is the Ruach HaKodesh, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” 33 On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were infuriated and wanted to put the emissaries to death. 34 But one of the members of the Sanhedrin rose to his feet, a Parush named Gamli’el, a teacher of the Torah highly respected by all the people. He ordered the men put outside for a little while 35 and then addressed the court: “Men of Isra’el, take care what you do to these people. 36 Some time ago, there was a rebellion under Todah, who claimed to be somebody special; and a number of men, maybe four hundred, rallied behind him. But upon his being put to death, his whole following was broken up and came to nothing. 37 After this, Y’hudah HaG’lili led another uprising, back at the time of the enrollment for the Roman tax; and he got some people to defect to him. But he was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 So in the present case, my advice to you is not to interfere with these people, but to leave them alone. For if this idea or this movement has a human origin, it will collapse. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them; you might even find yourselves fighting God!” They heeded his advice. 40 After summoning the emissaries and flogging them, they commanded them not to speak in the name of Yeshua, and let them go. 41 The emissaries left the Sanhedrin overjoyed at having been considered worthy of suffering disgrace on account of Yeshua. 42 And not for a single day, either in the Temple court or in private homes, did they stop teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Yeshua is the Messiah.
Persecutions and trials come to those who stand firm in the faith of knowing Yeshua the Christ.
Many accounts come to mind that reflect the persecution of the early Church, which began in Jerusalem by the apostles and believers who accepted Yeshua as Savior. Early believers met in homes and other locations, the Word of Jehovah spread and the number of disciples increased rapidly.
“Break Every Chain” performed by Jesus Culture
The apostles gathered all the disciples together and suggested that seven men from among them who were known to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom be chosen in order to reach out to those in need. A man named Stephen was one of the chosen. Stephen, being full of Jehovah’s grace and power, began doing great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition arose against him from Jews of Syrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia, and members of a sect called Synagogue of the Freedom. They argued with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Holy Spirit by which he spoke. They secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against Jehovah.” The following is Stephens’ testimony to the Sanhedrin:
12 They stirred up the people, as well as the elders and the Torah-teachers; so they came and arrested him and led him before the Sanhedrin. 13 There they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the Torah; 14 for we have heard him say that Yeshua from Natzeret will destroy this place and will change the customs Moshe handed down to us.” 15 Everyone sitting in the Sanhedrin stared at Stephen and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.
1 The cohen hagadol asked, “Are these accusations true?” 2 and Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to Avraham avinu in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran 3 and said to him, ‘Leave your land and your family, and go into the land that I will show you.’ 4 So he left the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this land where you are living now. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot; yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him, even though at the time he was childless. 6 What God said to him was, ‘Your descendants will be aliens in a foreign land, where they will be in slavery and oppressed for four hundred years. 7 But I will judge the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and afterwards they will leave and worship me in this place.’ 8 And he gave him b’rit-milah. So he became the father of Yitz’chak and did his b’rit-milah on the eighth day, and Yitz’chak became the father of Ya’akov, and Ya’akov became the father of the Twelve Patriarchs. 9 “Now the Patriarchs grew jealous of Yosef and sold him into slavery in Egypt. But ADONAI was with him; 10 he rescued him from all his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him chief administrator over Egypt and over all his household. t 11 Now there came a famine that caused much suffering throughout Egypt and Kena’anu 12 But when Ya’akov heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 The second time, Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers, and Yosef’s family became known to Pharaoh. 14 Yosef then sent for his father Ya’akov and all his relatives, seventy-five people. 15 And Ya’akov went down to Egypt; there he died, as did our other ancestors. 16 Their bodies were removed to Sh’khem and buried in the tomb Avraham had bought from the family of Hamor in Sh’khem for a certain sum of money. 17 “As the time drew near for the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Avraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased greatly, 18 until there arose another king over Egypt who had no knowledge of Yosef. 19 With cruel cunning this man forced our fathers to put their newborn babies outside their homes, so that they would not survive. 20 “It was then that Moshe was born, and he was beautiful in God’s sight. For three months he was reared in his father’s house; 21 and when he was put out of his home, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 So Moshe was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and became both a powerful speaker and a man of action. 23 “But when he was forty years old, the thought came to him to visit his brothers, the people of Isra’el. 24 On seeing one of them being mistreated, he went to his defense and took revenge by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed his brothers would understand that God was using him to rescue them, but they didn’t understand. 26 When he appeared the next day, as they were fighting, and tried to make peace between them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27 the one who was mistreating his fellow pushed Moshe away and said, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me, the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 On hearing this, Moshe fled the country and became an exile in the land of Midyan, where he had two sons. 30 “After forty more years, an angel appeared to him in the desert near Mount Sinai in the flames of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moshe saw this, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to get a better look, there came the voice of ADONAI, 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya’akov.’ But Moshe trembled with fear and didn’t dare to look. 33 ADONAI said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have clearly seen how My people are being oppressed in Egypt, I have heard their cry, and I have come down to rescue them, and now I will send you to Egypt.’ 35 “This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and deliverer by God through the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra’el, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers’ 38 This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us. 39 “But our fathers refused to obey him. On the contrary, they rejected him and in their hearts turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aharon, ‘Make us gods to go before us; because this Moshe, who led us out of Egypt – we don’t know what has become of him. 41 That was when they made an idol in the shape of a calf and offered a sacrifice to it and held a celebration in honor of what they had made with their own hands. 42 So God turned away from them and gave them over to worship the star – as has been written in the book of the prophets, ‘People of Isra’el, it was not to me that you offered slaughtered animals and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness! 43 No, you carried the tent of Molekh and the star of your god Reifan, the idols you made so that you could worship them. Therefore, I will send you into exile beyond Bavel.’ 44 “Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness. It had been made just as God, who spoke to Moshe, had ordered it made, according to the pattern Moshe had seen. 45 Later on, our fathers who had received it brought it in with Y’hoshua when they took the Land away from the nations that God drove out before them. “So it was until the days of David. 46 He enjoyed God’s favor and asked if he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Ya’akov 47 and Shlomo did build him a house. 48 But Ha’Elyon does not live in places made by hand! As the prophet says, 49 ‘Heaven is my throne,’ says ADONAI, ‘and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house could you build for Me? What kind of place could you devise for my rest? 50 Has not My hand made all these things?’ 51 “Stiffnecked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told prophesied the coming of the Righteous On, and now you have become His betrayers and murderers! – 53 you! – who receive the Torah that was put into effect through angels – but have not obeyed it!”
The Stoning of Stephen:
54 On hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw God’s Sh’khinah, with Yeshua standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look!” he exclaimed, “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn’t have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him, 58 threw him outside the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses laid down their coats at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul. 59 As they were stoning him, Stephen called out to God, “Lord Yeshua! Receive my spirit!” 60 Then he kneeled down and shouted out, “Lord! Don’t hold this sin against them!” With that, he fell asleep.
1 and Sha’ul gave his approval to his murder. Starting with that day, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic Community/Church in Yerushalayim; all but the emissaries were scattered throughout the regions of Y’hudah and Shomron. 2 Some godly men buried Stephen and mourned him deeply. 3 But Sha’ul set out to destroy the Messianic Community/Church – entering house after house, he dragged off both men and women and handed them over to be put in prison.
Note: Sha’ul’s (Paul) one-on-one experience was with the very One who had given His life to save him, Jehovah’s only Son, Yeshua.
1 Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to “the Way,” {Messianic CommunityChurch} and bring them back to Yerushalayim. 3 He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” he asked. “I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting. 6 Now get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.” 7 The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 They helped Sha’ul get up off the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Dammesek. 9 For three days he remained unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank. 10 There was a talmid in Dammesek, Hananyah by name; and in a vision the Lord said to him, “Hananyah!” He said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to Straight Street, to Y’hudah’s house; and ask for a man from Tarsus named Sha’ul; for he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Hananyah coming in and placing his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 But Hananyah answered, “Lord, many have told me about this man, how much harm he has done to your people in Yerushalayim; 14 and here he has a warrant from the head cohanim to arrest everyone who calls on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the Goyim, even to their kings, and to the sons of Isra’el as well. 16 For I myself will show him how much he must suffer for My name.”
Acts Chapter 7
Who is this Yeshua Jesus Messiah Christ and Savior of all? Call on Him in repentance of sin, by faith believing and receive Him as Personal Savior and Lord of our lives.
Yeshua’s credentials are in perfect order. Born of Jehovah God, not of Adam, to the Virgin Mary, but not of human descent. He kept the Jewish Law and traditions, but He came to fulfill the Law, bringing love, forgiveness, mercy, grace and redemption from sin for whosoever believes and follows Him. Yeshua came and died on a cross for our sins.
O what a Savior! What love of the Father and the Son that they should do this for you and me! Yeshua established the Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it!
“Jesus Loves Me” performed by Chris Tomlin
Yeshua is our only way and foundation for eternal life. There is no other way whereby one can be saved from sin and have eternity in Jehovah’s Kingdom of Heaven without end! Yeshua is the way, the truth and the life! NO one comes the His Father Jehovah except through HIM. AMEN and AMEN.
The Battle of the Ages continues to be fought for the souls of men. Light vs. Darkness – Good vs. Evil. It is a choice we all make. Choose light and life everlasting by choosing Yeshua Messiah OR choose the darkness and evil of Satan and live for eternity in hell.
Therefore, listen! Be still! Jehovah God says call on Me and I will hear you and I will show you Truth and Life. Yeshua died for you and me. The very least we can do is to live for Him.
“It is Finished” performed by The Gaither Vocal Band
Israel's Ultimate Victory 